What is recorded here

Break a slab in half and the cross still emerges. Buried beneath Caherlehillan’s children, its lower fragment kept the shape of mercy while the top was lost to time. Stone does not need completeness when love has already finished the carving.

This cross-slab fragment was recovered from the children's burial ground (KE070-043001-) during its excavation (see Sheehan 1994, 41-2; 1995, 43-4; 1996, 40-41; 1997, 47; 1998, 82; 2000a, 89; 2000b, 112; 2004, 211-12; 2006, 214). It is derived from the lowermost part of a slab and features part of an encircled Maltese cross and a curvilinear motif similar to those on another cross-slab (KE070-043004-) from Caherlehillan. Compiled by: Elizabeth Byrne, Ursula Egan and Sheila Ronan, Archaeological Survey Unit, University College, Cork. Date of upload: 30 May 2011

Probably dating to the early Christian period (5th–9th centuries AD), the cross-slab may have marked a Christian burial or served as a memorial. Its discovery in a children's burial ground suggests a possible ecclesiastical or ritual association with the site.

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